NBA star Black Griffin is the new sheriff in town. He’s keeping law and order with more horsepower than the Old West has ever seen before as instead of riding a horse into town, he barrels in driving a 2015 Kia Optima.
The Optima is Griffin’s improvisational contribution to the movie in which he’s cast as a sheriff in the Old West. When the Kia enters the scene, the director yells “cut” but ultimately the filmmaker embraces Griffin’s mode of transportation.
Stacy Wall of production house Imperial Woodpecker directed this spot, titled “Showdown,” for agency David&Goliath.
Credits
Client Kia Optima Agency David&Goliath David Angelo, founder/chairman; Colin Jeffery, chief creative officer; Driscoll Reid, Chris Hutchinson, creative directors; Basil Douglas Cowieson, Greg Buri, associate creative directors; Marc Wilson, art director; Paul Albanese, director of broadcast production; Curt O’ Brien, Christopher Coleman, executive producers. Production Imperial Woodpecker Stacy Wall, director; Doug Halbert, exec producer/managing partner; Charlie Cocuzza, exec producer; Candace Tomarken, producer. Editorial Spinach Grant Surmi, editor; Jonathan Carpio, producer; Ben Reesing, assistant editor. VFX The Mill Jo Arghiris, exec producer; Thatcher Peterson, executive color producer; Will Lemmon, producer; Natalie Westerfield, color producer; Robert Sethi, creative director; Benjamin Sposato, production coordinator; David Ludlam, colorist; Andy Dill, 2D lead; Robert Chapman, 3D lead; Nicholas Tayler, Gareth Parr, Trent Shumway, Lisa Ryan, Narbeh Mardirossian, 2D artists; Kelvin Liang, Joshua Frankel, Mike Di Nocco, Matt Neapolitan, Katie Yancey, 3D artists; Lynn Yang, concept artist; Thom Price, Andy Wheater, Rasha Shalaby, matte painters. Music/Sound Barking Owl Kelly Bayett, exec producer/creative director; Michael Anastasi, sound designer.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
